You are referring to 8MB of internal memory I suppose. The better (should I say more expensive) units allow the use of SD memory cards. Lowrance will allow you to use five cards before they cut you off so to speak. They don't want you to loan the program to your buddys. With their MapCreate programs ($100 as you say) you can literally load all US topos on five 512MB SD cards. The cards allow you to upload to the GPS from the card and download anything you have created from the GPS to the card and ultimately back to your computer. Great stuff. You get what you pay for. Nothing wrong with the aforementioned Garmin. Just somewhat limited in what it will do. Sorta like comparing a Hyundai to a Lexus. I have an iFinder Hunt ($299 MSRP) and the MapCreate (another $100). You can actually record audio to further detail your saved waypoints! Could I live without this feature? Yes. Also has sunrise/moonrise times, barometer and things I don't even know about. WAAS feature but I could live without this too. I think. I do agree with you completely that any GPS user should learn UTM. No matter how technically challenged you are, you can learn UTM and locate yourself PRECISELY on a 1:24000 topo. Knowing exactly where you are is almost as important as knowing where you want to go. By the time you get all this plus a good R.A.M. vehicle mount, tax & shipping, you will be dropping around $450.00. <img src="/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />